Making A Difference Daily

Today’s Passage – Ezekiel 14 – 16 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – 2 Corinthians 9 – 13; Psalms 11 – 15; Proverbs 3)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:6

Read the “0903 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.” (Ezekiel 14:4-5)

Ezekiel is writing at the time when the Babylonians were invading Jerusalem and taking her inhabitants into captivity. There were actually three deportations. Daniel was taken captive along with others in 605 BC, Ezekiel was part of the group that was deported in 597 BC, and the final deportation and destruction of the City of Jerusalem took place in 586 BC. Ezekiel was ministering to captives who were already in Babylonian exile, but his messages from God were applicable to the people who still remained in Jerusalem. These earlier chapters (1 – 24) were written before the final destruction of Jerusalem. Though  Ezekiel prophesied much about God’s judgment, he also gave them hope through his prophecies of a future restoration of Israel.

The English word, “estranged,” carries the idea of severed relationship. We say that a child is estranged from his parents if they have broken off communication and no longer have any kind of connection. The Hebrew word (נָזֹרוּ – zûr) translated “estranged” here is used 77 times in the Old Testament in its various forms, but most of the time it is translated into the words, “strange,” or “stranger.” God is saying that the people of Judah and Jerusalem had become distant from Him because they had strayed into idolatry. They were close to idols but distant from God. They were unfamiliar with God because they had wandered away from him, searching for something else. 

The practical application that I saw in these verses is that many people today who claim to be Christians are estranged from God. They are completely unfamiliar with who He is and what He expects from His children. In the news today there are many in our nation who are advocating for abortion rights. Many of these folks say they are believers, yet they are supporting a position that is completely against the heart of God, whose desire is to protect the innocent. This is just one example. Another illustration is the way many Christians have sided with the Palestinian people who are supporting Hamas in their quest to exterminate the Jewish people. How can a Christian side with people who hate Israel and want to see them wiped off the face of the earth? These so-called Christians think the way they do because they are estranged from God; they do not know Him, they are unfamiliar with His Word, and they have no clue what He wants. 

The people referred to in the illustrations from the previous paragraph are predominantly unbelievers, even though they may claim to be Christians. However, there are also many true believers who can become estranged from God simply because they do not spend the time to get to know Him. This is why it is so important for Christians to daily spend time in the Word of God and also to be united with a good, Bible preaching church. The world, the flesh, and the devil are consistently pushing us in a direction away from the Lord, but a good church and daily fellowship with the Savior will keep us close.

Today’s Passage – Lamentations 4 – 5 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – 1 Corinthians 9 – 12; Psalms 141 – 145; Proverbs 30)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Joshua 1:8

Read the “0830 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – “Who’s Laughing Now?”

“They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.” – (Lamentations 4:5)

“The hands of the pitiful women have sodden {means – boiled} their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.” – (Lamentations 4:10)

“20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time? 21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. 22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.” (Lamentations 5:20-22)

My dad once told me that people need to hit “rock bottom” before they can start climbing back up. Such was the case for the nation of Judah (Israel) in the passage that we read today. The Book of Lamentations is a very sad passage of Scripture. In these last two chapters of the book we see the end result of a nation that turns its back on the Lord. Israel was once the crowned jewel of all of the earth. At one point in their history they had experienced the marvelous blessing of God, with all of the provision and protection that came along with it. What happened? Slowly, they began to think that their prosperity was not a result of the favor that God had bestowed upon them. Instead, in their pride, they believed that all of the good things that had come their way were the result of their own works and wisdom. God was gradually pushed out of their minds and as God was slowly losing His preeminence in their eyes, sin began to move in. At first it was very small and subtle, but eventually the nation became engulfed in full-scale immorality and idolatry.

Surprisingly, God did not bring about judgment immediately. He lovingly and patiently pleaded with the people, warning them about the eventual consequences of their actions. At some points in their history, the people even heeded the warnings, and turned back to the Lord, at least temporarily, and managed to postpone the judgment. Eventually, however, God’s patience ran out and the judgment that they long deserved came. These chapters in Lamentation portray a vivid picture of the payment that will eventually come upon any people that turn their back on God. What a shame!

I wonder how long it will be before God’s patience runs out on America. We have certainly been turning our back on the Lord for the past several decades. We’ve removed God from our schools and government. We murder innocent babies by the millions. We have thrown the towel in on decency and morality. We have become consumed with material things, and have forsaken the things that really matter. God cannot be pleased with this once godly nation. In recent years we have seen a number of natural and un-natural disasters that have hit our nation and our world. Were these events just natural occurrences or isolated coincidences, or is God trying to get our attention? I can’t answer that question definitively, but I do know that God allowed all of these events and may have even caused the natural ones, and He could have prevented them. I think that it is very likely that we will see more of the same in the future. I don’t think our economy will get much better, either. Things are getting rough out there. The prosperity and protection that we experienced for years is vanishing away. The only hope that we have is in turning back to God.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” – (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Sometimes when we think about passages like these we think only of the lost world around us. In our mind we blame the situation that our country is in on the unbelievers out there, but according to the verse above, both the blame and the solution rest in the hands of God’s people. If “my people” didn’t get away from God in the first place then we wouldn’t have to get back to God today. Our churches and our families are gradually, slowly, subtly, and almost unconsciously moving away from the Lord. We need to repent, and revive, and radically move back to where we once were. How about you? Are you as close to the Lord now as you used to be at some point in your past? Do you allow things into your life and home now that you once wouldn’t even think of? How is your devotional life: your Bible reading and prayer time. Have you quietly slipped away in your personal relationship with God? These are hard questions, but we must give them some serious thought. Our flesh will rebel against the effort. It never wants to admit failure, but we must carefully and prayerfully take inventory of our spiritual lives. I want the blessings of God on my life, my ministry, my family, my church, and my nation. I’d be willing to bet that you do too. God hasn’t moved – we have. We need get back to where He is.

Today’s Passage – Lamentations 1 – 3 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – 1 Corinthians 5 – 8; Psalms 136 – 140; Proverbs 29)

Read the “0829 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.” (Lamentations 3:18-21)

Good morning. While reading Lamentations chapter 1, I could feel the pain of Jeremiah as he looked over the now empty city of Jerusalem, he sees the dead lying in the street…

“The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.” (Lamentations 2:21)

He saw the house of God in ruins…

“And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest. The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.” (Lamentations 2;6-7)

And the tears of Jeremiah fell like rain. And then he thought…

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach. For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.” (Jeremiah 3:22-32)

As we watch America go down the same path, embracing the false gods of Socialism, we can still have hope in what the Word of God says. What He does to our nation will be for our own good. We are not consumed because of His mercy. The LORD will not cast us off for ever. Through the grief, we can still see His compassion according to the multitude of His mercies!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided,

Great is Thy faithfulness,

Lord unto me!

Therefore have I hope.

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” (Titus 2;11-15)

Peace.

Today’s Passage – Jeremiah 51 – 52 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – 1 Corinthians 1 – 4; Psalms 131 – 135; Proverbs 28)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – 1 John 4:7 & 8

Read the “0828 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – “Are You Still in Prison”

“18 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 19 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.” (Jeremiah 50:18-20)

Beginning in chapter 47, God is pronouncing judgment through the prophet Jeremiah on all the nations that had been an enemy to God’s people: Philistia (ch. 47), Moab (ch. 48), Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Cedar, Hamon, and Elam (ch. 49). In chapters 50 – 51, the focus of God’s judgment is on Babylon. Again, the judgment described in these chapters seems to surpass the conquering of the Babylonians by the Medes and Persians, which seemed to have happened without much of a fight (see Daniel 5). The description given in these chapters depict the future destruction of Antichrist’s kingdom in Revelation 17 and 18.

Interestingly, chapter 52 goes back in time and discusses the Babylonian siege against Jerusalem, which culminated in 586 BC. It is another historic interlude similar to one we saw in chapter 39. This one reads almost identically to 2 Kings 24:18 – 25:30.

My thought this morning is that though God used Babylon as an instrument of judgment against Israel, which is what the majority of this Book of Jeremiah has been focused on, He will still judge Babylon for what she did to God’s people. God allows and even uses evil people to accomplish His will in the lives of those that belong to Him, but we must not ever make the mistake of confusing God’s chastisement of His own with His ultimate wrath upon those who do not belong to Him.

I remember when I was a boy, my brothers and I used to fight like cats and dogs, but there was never a time when anybody outside of my family could ever attack me without experiencing the wrath of my older brothers. My brothers felt like they could whip up on me all they wanted, but they were not about to let anybody else touch me. That may be a weak illustration but it somewhat pictures God’s dealings with Israel. God would allow a certain measure of punishment to come Israel’s way but He would never allow them to be completely destroyed. However, the nations, like those listed above and in chapters 47 – 51, had no such guarantee. God ultimately destroyed (or will destroy) these nations that had oppressed Israel.

What is the application for us today? If you belong to God, you are in His hands and no-one can pluck you out of God’s hands. Absolutely nothing bad can happen to you unless God for some very good reason wills it to happen. Nothing gets past the desk of God. He sees everything that is happening in your life. I am reminded of what Satan told God in the Book of Job: “10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land” (Job 1:10). How did Satan know that God had hedged Job in on every side? He must have been trying to get in, but God wouldn’t let him. It is the same way with us. Satan can only do what God permits him to do to us, and the same principle applies to all our enemies. Israel had to be chastised for their rebellion against God, but God never forsook them, and He still has a wonderful plan for them. He has a wonderful plan for you as well. Notice Jeremiah 50:20 above. God sees Israel without iniquity and completely pardoned; and if you belong to God, that is how He sees you as well.

Notice what Spurgeon said about v. 20: “Those sins were of no common order. The Israelites were always a stiff-necked and rebellious race. Israel’s sins were of the most heinous character because of the greatness of their privileges and the peculiar and special love the Lord had lavished on them. They were positively unmatched in guilt by any nation under heaven. For all of that, the Israelites cast away their God. They who had worshiped the Lord turned aside from him and bowed down before Baal and went after other gods and worshiped idols. But their provocations, their idolatries, their lusts were all to be swept away and to be forgotten.” (Spurgeon. 2017. The Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers).

We all deserve the judgment and destruction that Babylon received (and will receive in the future), but God in His marvelous grace has pardoned those who have placed their faith in Him. What an awesome God we serve!

Today’s Passage – Jeremiah 41 – 45 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Romans 5 – 8; Psalm 119; Proverbs 25)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – *James 4:10*

Read the “0825 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – The Safest Place on Earth

“Thus shalt thou say unto him, The LORD saith thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land. And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.” (Jeremiah 45:4-5)

Baruch was Jeremiah’s assistant. We find him assisting Jeremiah in the purchasing of land in chapter thirty-two, and again in chapter thirty-six we see Baruch performing the role of an amanuensis, recording the words of Jeremiah, which he then read before the king to warn him of the judgment that God had pronounced upon Judah. Baruch was a faithful servant of the Lord and helper to Jeremiah, but in chapter forty-five, Baruch is complaining about the hardships that he is facing in life because of all of the bad stuff that is happening in the kingdom:

“Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the LORD hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.” (Jeremiah 45:3)

God tells him through the prophet Jeremiah that a lot of horrible stuff is about to happen to the people of God and a great number of people are going to die, and this is not the time for Baruch to be looking for some great reward or a life of ease. God tells him to just be thankful that he was going to escape the judgment with his life intact. Baruch should have been more concerned about how much his nation had fallen from God and how their sin grieved the Lord. Baruch was looking for an “attaboy” because he was still holding the line and being faithful, but it was not a time for pleasure and rejoicing; it was a time of great calamity for his nation. Baruch was going to get to live and he should be content with that.

Here’s an application that I think can made from this passage. We all have certain expectations about how life could (and maybe should) be. We have this idea that if we do right we can expect to live an easy life, be blessed with a loving family and good friends, have a house with a white picket fence, enjoy good health, and live a long time on the earth. However, as God’s people, our purpose for living here does not surround us and our desires, it surrounds the will of God. We are here on this earth to glorify Him, communicate the gospel to the lost world around us, and to serve other people. God may and will bless us with many good things, and if we are faithful, we will certainly receive many rewards in Heaven. However, we need to learn to be content with whatever God wills and allows for us in this life, and sometimes God permits some “bad” stuff to happen to His children.

The apostle Paul was one of the greatest servants of God in the first century, but he didn’t enjoy here on earth many of the things that the average American Christian expects today. He was beaten often for his faith and put in prison countless times, but he was content with whatever the Lord allowed in His life:

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:11-13)

As Christians, we do not live for ourselves, we live for the Lord. We serve Him. Will He take care of us and supply our needs? Yes. Will he even bless us with many good things that we will be able to enjoy while we are here on earth? Yes. But, he may also allow, or even ordain, some hardship that we must endure according to His will, and we must be content with that. Really, we must learn to be content with Him and with whatever He puts into our lives.

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” (1 Timothy 6:6-9)

Today’s Passage – Jeremiah 37 – 40 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Romans 1 – 4; Psalms 116 – 118; Proverbs 24)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – *1 Timothy 1:17*

Read the “0824 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read previous posts from this passage – “The Truth Sometimes Hurts,” and “God Remembers.“

“14 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me. 15 Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me? 16 So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life. 17 Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: 18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. 19 And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. 20 But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.” (Jeremiah 38:14-20)

“5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I really enjoy reading the Book of Jeremiah! It has some of the characteristics and action of the historical books of the Bible, along with the prophecies that teach about the future of God’s people. I greatly admire Jeremiah’s faithfulness to the Lord to deliver these unpopular messages to God’s people, even when it resulted in his being put into jail. Once, the princes of Judah even placed him in a prison dungeon filled with mire where they attempted to starve him to death. God always brought him out of these unpleasant situations. He did not deliver him from them completely, but He always delivered him from them eventually. In the end we see Jeremiah being rewarded by the King of Babylon and also granted the freedom to go where he pleases, while all of the men of Judah that oppressed Jeremiah were either dragged into captivity or worse, put to death.

In chapter thirty-eight, King Zedekiah sends for Jeremiah to see if there is any word from the Lord, and there is; but what God has to say to Zedekiah was not what he wanted to hear. God was basically telling the king to surrender to the Babylonians and submit to them. God promises that if Zedekiah obeyed him, it would go well with the king’s family, and the city of Jerusalem would be spared. Zedekiah was more afraid of what his peers thought, however, and refused to listen to the counsel given through Jeremiah. He resists Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, which resulted in an 18 month siege and ultimate destruction of the city. Zedekiah’s sons were also slain, and the king’s eyes were plucked out immediately following the slaughter of his sons. Can you imagine the last thing you are able to see in life is the execution of your family? How tragic! And it did not have to happen. Zedekiah should have trusted the words of God given through the prophet Jeremiah and all of the death and destruction would have been avoided.

Today, we are no different than King Zedekiah. We often ignore the clear commands of God because we think we know better, or because doing so will result in the loss of friends. We need to learn to always choose God over everything and everybody else. God knows what is best for us, even if our finite minds cannot comprehend what He is doing. Acknowledge Him, and lean not unto your own understanding. Like Jeremiah, you will eventually reap the rewards of following Him.

Today’s Passage – Jeremiah 33 – 36 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Acts 25 – 28; Psalms 111 – 115; Proverbs 23)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Ephesians 4:32

Read the “0823 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – “Bible Burning,” and “The Rechabites“

“1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying, 2 Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; 3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” (Jeremiah 33:1-3)

“11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

Jeremiah 33:3 contains a wonderful promise given by God to Jeremiah regarding prayer during the time that he was prophesying a very unpopular message to the people of Judah.

Five Prayer Principles

• You Must Pray

“…ye have not, because ye ask not.” – (James 4:2)

“23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:23-24)

“7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

• You Must Believe That God Can Answer Prayer

“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” – (Matthew 21:22)

Believing does not mean that God necessarily will do what you’re asking, but that He has the power to do what you are asking. 

• You Must Pray According to God’s Will

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:” – (1 John 5:14)

• Your prayers should be Kingdom-centered or others-centered

“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” – (James 4:3)

• Sin must be confessed and forsaken

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” – (Psalm 66:18)

In David’s great Psalm of confession, it states:

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. … Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. … Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” – (Psalm 51:7, 9-10, 13)

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7)

Of course, the greatest prayer, and one that will assuredly be answered is the prayer for salvation:

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

Today’s Passage – Jeremiah 30 – 32 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Acts 22 – 24; Psalms 106 – 110; Proverbs 22)

Read the “0822 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.” (Jeremiah 31:1-6)

“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy…” (Psalm107:2)

Good morning. Jesus said, “…I have loved thee with an everlasting love…”

This passage reminded me of my favorite passage from Ezekiel…

“And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.” (Ezekiel 16:3-8)

The Lord has done a lot for us, even everything, because of His everlasting love. He gave us eternal life…

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:37-40)

Our sin left us polluted in our own blood…

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: “ (Romans 3:10)

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23)

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Romans 5:12)

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

But Jesus paid the price of sin for us…

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” (Psalm 22:14-18)

“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” (Isaiah 53:1-10)

We are washed clean by the blood of Jesus…

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

Did Jesus do this for you? All you need do is realize you are a sinner, and that because you are a sinner there is no way for you to get into Heaven on your own…

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

…and then pray, and ask Jesus to forgive your sins, invite Him to come into your heart and He will. Romans 10:13 says…

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

Did you receive His everlasting love? If you did then let the redeemed of the LORD say so: tell somebody about what His everlasting love did for you.

Peace!

Today’s Passage – Jeremiah 26 – 29 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Acts 19 – 21; Psalms 101 – 105; Proverbs 21)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Matthew 6:33

Read the “0821 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read previous posts from today’s passage – “Make the Best of It,” and “Keep Looking.”

“The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him.” – (Jeremiah 28:9)

“Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.” – (Jeremiah 28:15)

“Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie:” – (Jeremiah 29:3)

In chapters 28 and 29, we see two false prophets that were preaching to Israel, refuting what the true prophet, Jeremiah, had been telling them. In chapter 28, we see Hananiah who was telling the people of Israel that God had told him that their problems with Babylon were only temporary and that God was going to rescue them in two years from the captivity that they were enduring. When Jeremiah first heard what this man had to say, he was skepticle yet optimistic. He hoped that what this man was saying was true (vs. 5 – 6), but he was careful to warn the people standing by that this man could be a false prophet (vs. 7 – 9). His suspicions were confirmed when later God revealed to him the truth about Hananiah. He was a false prophet. He was lying to the people and the peace that he was promising would not come to pass.

In chapter 29, there is another man, Shemiah the Nehelamite, that was also lying to the people. Jeremiah also exposed this man for the fraud that he was. It must have been difficult for the people, however,  to discern who was telling them the truth.  Jeremiah told them in verse nine of chapter 28 how they could know. They could determine whether a person was a false prophet or not simply by examining the proof of his claims. If what he predicted became true, he was a true prophet, but if what he said did not come to pass exactly as he said he would, he should never be trusted again.

Today, it is a lot easier for us to tell whether a preacher is telling us the truth. We have the Word of God and we know that the Bible is truth. If a preacher is telling us something that is contrary to the teaching of the Bible, we know that that person is a false prophet. Several years back there was a man on the radio that was forecasting a date for the return of the Lord. He had already done this back in the 90’s and was wrong then also. A lot of people were deceived by what this man told them. Some had even sold all their possessions and had given the money to this man so that he could spread his lies further. However, if they had just read their Bibles they would have known that “of that day and hour knoweth no man.” We can only know the truth through the Word of God. Don’t take any man’s word for it. Search the Scriptures to make sure that what the preacher is preaching lines up with the Bible and is in fact the truth. You cannot completely trust any man, but you can trust the Word of God. There are a lot of false prophets out there, some within the church and some outside of the church; but you can know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free.

Both of these false prophets that Jeremiah warned about were telling people what they wanted to hear; they were preaching good news. The only problem was, it was not the truth. Paul warned us that one of the characteristics of the last days will be a bunch of preachers who do not tell us what God said, but will rather tell us what we want to hear:

“3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Today’s Passage – Jeremiah 23 – 25 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Acts 16 – 18; Psalms 96 – 100; Proverbs 20)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Micah 6:8

Read the “0820 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.” – (Jeremiah 23:28-32)

Jeremiah 23 is a strong rebuke against the unfaithful pastors and false prophets of Jeremiah’s day who claimed to be speaking on behalf of God, but were really just telling the people what they want they wanted to hear. I do not believe that we are doing injustice to the Scripture by making application to the many spiritual leaders in our world today who claim to be representing God by preaching and teaching the Word of God but are really just advancing their own agenda and taking advantage of God’s people. This passage delivers a scathing warning for those who mishandle the Bible. In this text I have noticed three common errors that were made in Jeremiah’s day and are also made today by people who claim to be ministers for the Lord.

1 Lying – We lie to the people when we don’t tell them exactly what God said or when we insert our philosophies and opinions. God’s Word is very clear. He has very specific instructions regarding how we are to conduct ourselves on this earth. Yet preachers will often misrepresent God by not declaring plainly and interpreting literally what God said. I wish every Christian knew the Bible intimately themselves, but unfortunately that is not the case. Many of the people that come to us for help are trusting us to tell them them what God would tell them. We have no right to just tell them what we think. Who cares what we think? What really matters is what God said!

2 Leaving Out – By this I mean that we neglect so many of the important truths of the Word. We do not declare the whole counsel of God. We conveniently select passages that promote our agenda, and we take verses out of their context. God expects us to preach and teach the whole Bible, not just the parts that will make us look good in front of the people. We are “itching” people’s ears today by ignoring the passages that deal with their sin.

3 Lightness – Notice verse 31. God mentions the prophets’ lightness. The preachers did not take their jobs seriously. It is an awesome responsibility to be God’s representative. We are to faithfully deliver and explain the Truth of the Word of God. The people need Truth, not entertainment. We have become comedians and story tellers and entertainers, but our “lightness” has caused an entire generation to fall away from God. We need to get back to the sober business of declaring the Truth. When I think back to the prophets of the Old Testament, I see men that were grave, serious, bold, determined, and fearful of the God they represented. We need to get back to that in our teaching and preaching today.

God wants His Word handled very carefully. God magnifies His word even above His name, and His name is above all other names. God’s Word is important. We need to be very careful that we are delivering it clearly, and entirely to the people of God.

This truth is taught in the New Testament as well:

“1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

Oh, and by the way, according to vs. 1 & 2, God’s flock needs to be handled with care as well. Woe to the pastor that takes advantage of one of God’s children.

“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.” – (Jeremiah 23:1-2)

Preaching the Word of God and leading the people of God is a wonderful privilege and an awesome responsibility. God’s shepherds must take their jobs very seriously and put every effort into making sure that they are representing the Lord well and are being faithful to praying for God’s people and preaching the Truth of God’s Word accurately and compassionately.